Giuliani and wife Judith picked pumpkins in New Hampshire over the weekend.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani highlights his successful battle with prostate cancer in a new radio ad out Monday, and claims a "socialized" healthcare system would have significantly decreased his chances of survival.

“I had prostate cancer, five, six years ago,” the former New York City mayor says in the radio ad set to air in New Hampshire. “My chance of surviving prostate cancer, and thank God I was cured of it, in the United States, 82 percent. My chances of surviving prostate cancer in England, only 44 percent under socialized medicine."

“You and I should be making the decisions about what kind of health care we get with our doctors, not with a government bureaucrat," Giuliani continues in the ad. "What we need to do is to give people a $15,000 deduction for a family, a $7,500 deduction for an individual so they can go out and buy their own health insurance.”

All the leading Democratic presidential candidates have proposed universal healthcare plans, a policy approach Giuliani has often referred to as "socialist."

Giuliani dropped out of the New York Senate race in the spring of 2000 after announcing he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent successful surgery the following September.

soundoff(92 Responses)

Maybe we should consider doing as Ron Paul suggested in the Republican Debate a few nights ago. Why don't we stop rewarding these corporate pharmaceutical who are overcharging everyone for medicines we need. It's sad that men and women in this country are dying everyday because of the cost of medicine. If we can work with these companies on lowering the costs of important meds maybe there will be 100% survival rates.

Mr. Giuliani I am very happy that you survived prostate cancer. What I am not happy about is your putting down socialized medicine. I wish you politicans would stop lying to American citizens regarding socialized medicine. England, France, and Canada have very successful programs...more so than America's current system. Yes, America has wonderful medications, medical equipment, etc...BUT...normal every day people cannot afford to pay for medical treatment nor, can they afford insurance coverage in this country. If I had been in your shoes, so to speak, I most likely would have died as I cannot afford medical insurance and, obviously, have none. Before I hear the stop buying CD's, Laptops, DVD's, Big Screen TV's, etc. comments...I do not buy any of the above. I am 60 years old and working..surviving paycheck to paycheck..if I am lucky! I for one am voting for Hillary in the next election and have high expectations regarding her health care reform. A deduction, as you propose would not cut it in the medical field, I think you are pandering to the insurance companies. If universal health care is "socialist"...I don't care...bring it on!

Maybe we could give Hillary a $15,000 deduction if she just shuts up? I'd rather have the option of making my own choice than Hillary making my decisions for me about anything. Does she still want to make laws regulating how much people are allowed to eat? After all, I wouldn't tell her what to do with her uterus(code for abortion rights), let her stay out of my life!

nice to see Guiliani is still making sweeping generalizations and bogus cause/effect arguments on a minute piece of information. Can't people see through this guy? Giving people a deduction does nothing to reduce costs to make healthcare affordable and available to all. This guy is a Vision-less leader.

You wanna talk about socialized medicine? Look at Walter Reed. They have a more impressive medical history than most private hospitals and is provided by our Government. If anyone believes that the Government of the United States would provide it's citizens with poor healthcare is ludicrous and doesn't deserve to be in the White House.

So I have to wait until the end of the year to get this so called "tax break" just so I can buy insurance? Oh wait, somehow I've got to buy it through the year and then get the tax break! With what, Mr Presidential Candidate? Exactly how do I buy something I can't afford? You've got no more answers than the democrats have on this and it is just more of the same ol BS.

HE CAN AFFORD TO SURVIVE. Its the millions that can't afford the simplest meds that this philandering idiot what to leave to there death beds. People like Gulliani will NEVER need help with health care. yet the figure that since they can afford there meds everybody else must be able to do the same.

As a mayor of new york, giuliani had a cadillac health insurance coverage of the city, and treatments by doctors for his prostate cancer in 2000.

For many american working poor, they cannnot afford the expensive insurance premiums, and thus not covered.

The $7,500 deduction on tax return is nothing if you cannot afford to pay for the doctor during the year. Besides, the taxapyer can only get back a portion of the medical expenses from the IRS based on his/her marginal tax rate. For the working poor, that amount from the IRS may be none or very little, while the rich at the 50% tax bracket get back $3,750 maximum.

I heard the statement made by Giuliani that he had survived cancer and said that if he had to wait on the state or any government program that he would be dead. I waould like to comment that there is lots of people that have no choice in healthcare. So what he is saying is the poor people might as well go ahead and die! And only the rich shall live! thank you and we enjoy each hour of your program every night.

I remember when Rudy made public his prostate cancer troubles. It was in the same speech that he announced he was dropping out of the Senate race, and that he was divorcing his wife. I was amazed at how someone who just announced they have cancer could come across so sleazy.

Rudy should also stop lying when it comes to statistics. He claims the UK has a 44% survival rate, but that hasn't been true since the 1970s.

From 1999 to 2003, the survival rate of prostate cancer in the UK was 74.4%.

You know what else would have sigificantly decreased your chances of survival, Mr. Guiliani? IF you had been uninsured and of a lower socio-economic status. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King said "of all forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane." You and the rest of the GOP could certainly take a page from the goo Reverend's play book!

well said Pat. "Let's see...I'll pick the country with the lowest survival rate and pretend that it applies to all contries with socialized medicine."
Is that how you run your office, Rudy?
Manipulate the facts to present a false conclusion.

And yet if you google "prostate cancer survival rates in England" you get an article that states, in a bar chart, percentages similar to those in the U.S. and a far cry from his stated 44%. Why is it reporters don't bother to fact check?

and I'm sure his being a millonaire had nothing to do with his medical bills. What Rudy fails to mention is state employess (which is what he was at the time) have excellent benefits. The average person does not have that kind of coverage. On the contrary we have exhorbant coinsurances, deductibles and copayments. After this spin I don't want to hear one more Republican slamming Ms. Edwards for discussing her cancer.

What is the source for this statistic??? I briefly looked this up and certainly did not sees numbers like this being reported in journal articles... I am sick and tired of politicians just making up stats or selectively quoting others. I found numbers stating that the prostate survival rates between Europe and the US were pretty similar (and getting even closer).

Sounds like someone has a case of the "My name is Pat and I'm backing someone who is hated by 63.4% of the US population"...can't wait for Giuliani to become president – he is a moderate...social liberal and fiscal conservative....wanna read more about Hillary....look up Saul Alinsky (her teacher...and mentor)

Alexander - I know you guys are supposed to report the news not analyze it. But Rudy's assertion is nothign short of false. Check the data. We uncover more people with prostate cancer and then attack it agressiviely. The Brits uncover many fewer cases and take a less surgical approach. Yet the mortality rates are about the same.

The former Mayor's comments show just how disconnected from reality the Republicans are. Here are a few key points to ponder:

1) He is a millionaire and while money can't cure cancer, his access to the best doctors and his name gave him a "leg up" against this devastating illness.

2) The comment about health decision being between people and their doctor doesn't work when your only option to talk to a doctor is when you go the emergency room. Somewhere between 15 and 30 million Americans do not have access to a family practitioner or local clinic. If these Americans had access to the proper treatment at the proper time, we would reduce the burden for local governments and hospitals caused by last minute treatment visits to emergency rooms.

3) The lower-middle class is one severe illness away from having to go bankrupt. I don't have the specific data but since most insured Americans get their health care through their job (how crazy does that sound?), if the head of household loses his/her job or gets terminally ill, the entire family falls apart and that hurts the economy as well as destroy the progress made by hard working families.

It is incredible that we are to blind to realized that most politicians are saying what their campaign financiers want them to say.

Pat, You're talking like a donkey. Speaking as a health care provider, I vow to quit medicine the minute it becomes socialized, which, btw, is exactly what Hillary wants to do. I will not go through all the schooling I have gone through to be paid like a teacher. I'll open a land scaping, or t-shirt printing business before I do that.

So what does it matter if more people can afford health care if there is no one to deliver health care. Just ask all the Canadians who cross the border and pay cash for services they can not wait for in Canada.

I know a nice canadian lady who had a brain tumor that needed immediate surgery. The Canadian socialized system said: "no problem, just get in line... it will be 9 months". In 9 months she'd be dead. So she came the the USA, had the surgery and is not doing great.